Trimming machine



' Aug. 9, 1938.

J. T. LANCASTER TRIMMING MACHINE Filed March 9, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 g-1933- J. T. LANCAS'i'ER 2,125,931

TRIMMING MACHINE Filed March 9, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 9,1938 TRIMMING MACHINE John T. Lancaster, Newton, Mass, assignor toUnited Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J., a corporation of NewJersey Application Marthe, 1936, Serial No. 67,847

31 Claims.

This invention relates to trimming machines and more particularly tomachines for operating on partially pulled-over or lasted shoes toprepare their toe ends for cement lasting. More specifically, theinvention is concerned with the problem of severing a strip from thelining at the toe of a shoe, to the end that the pleats, when the toe issubsequently lasted, may not be too bulky and the margin of the uppermay lie in contact with the insole instead of being separated therefromby the lining. For the purpose of describing the invention, the termlining will be used to include, for the sake of brevity, such otherelements as may be provided to reinforce it, for example, a-toe-box orstiffener and a doubler. These usually lie between the upper and thelining proper and in many shoes they are secured to the latter byadhesive substance, by stitches or both.

According to one common method. of making shoes, a pulled-over shoe orone that has been side-lastedis set up in a bed-lasting machine by whichits ends are to be lasted. At this stage, if the toe is to be lastedwith cement, it has developed upon the bed-lasting operator to fold backthe toe of the upper and thus unmask the projecting margin of the liningand to cut off a strip of the lining flush with or close to the insole,beginning at or near the tip line on one side, progressing around thetoe, and finishing at or near the tip line on the other side. It hasbeen the practice to cut off this strip of lining with a knife held inthe hand, but when the lining is trimmed in this manner it retards theoutput of the bedlasting machine, takes the time of a high-price workmanand wrinkles or creases the outer surface of the upper where the latteris folded.

To overcome these objectionable conditions, the present inventionprovides an improved machine with which to cut off the surplus unlastedportion of the lining without wrinkling the upper and without retardingthe work of the bed-lasting ma chine.

As herein illustrated, a feature of the invention consists in a trimmingmachine comprising two shearing members one of which is formed andarranged to project between inner and outer layers of unlasted uppermaterials loosely enveloping the toe end of the insole of a partiallyfabricated shoe on a last, and the otherof which isarranged to cooperatetherewith to sever a marginal strip of the inner layer close to theinsole, and powerdriven means for operating one of the shearing members.Preferably, the member that projects between the layers is arranged torotate and is driven to feed the work.. Moreover, as herein shown, theother shearing member is a small rotary disk the perimeter of which ispreferably provided with teeth thatoperate with a shearing actionwithout tearing or shredding the work. To guide a partially fabricatedshoe the machine is provided with an improved trimming guide having alip formed and arranged to project between the inner layer and theperimeter of the insole. In addition to the features above mentioned,the illustrated machine is provided with other novel and useful featuresby which the feeding of the Work and the severing of the lining areexpedited. Referring to the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a left sideelevation of the upper portion of a machine embodying the invention, the

toe portion of a pulled-over or partially lasted shoe being representedin section and a free margin of the lining being in process of beingtrimmed; i

Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. l, but on a larger scale, of themachine elements adjacent to the trimming locality;

Fig. 3 is a top-plan view and partial section of the structureintersected by line IIIIII of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section in the plane of line IV-IV of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the trimming gage assembly; and

Fig. 6 is a bottom View of the forepart of a partially lasted shoe ofcommon construction that requires the free margin of the lining to besevered before the upper is lasted at the toe. Referring first to thestructure of the shoe as represented in Figs. 1 and 6, the upper H] andlining II conforming to a last l3, are permanently secured to the insoleH with lasting staples l4.

It is to be understood that the lining may also 7 include a stifftoe-box and a doubler I5, both of which lie between the upper l0 and thelining proper, the doubler being between the upper and the toe-box. Toavoid confusion in the drawings, no attempt has been made in Fig. 1 torepresent the toe-box or the doubler individually, since they may beregarded as component parts of the lining. In Fig. 6, however, thedoubler I5 is repreper at the toe, and to permit the pleated margin ofthe upper to lie in contact with the insole instead of being separatedtherefrom by the lining, to the end that the bond of adhesion betweenthe upper and the insole may be satisfactory. Accordingly, the presentinvention provides a machine for severing the surplus strip of unlastedlining before such a shoe is set up in a bed-lasting machine. If atoe-tack has previously been driven as indicated by a tack-hole at I! inFig. 6, it will be pulled out to free the pulled-over margins of theupper and the lining from the insole and from each other.

The trimming machine shown herein is provided with a small fiat diskcutter 20 arranged to operate in confronting relation to the insole of ashoe. The cutter is preferably provided with peripheral teeth arrangedto operate in shearing relation to a shearing edge 2| formed on a rotaryspindle 22 in consequence of forming a peripheral groove 23 in thespindle near its lower end. Below the shearing edge 2| the spindle istapered abruptly to provide a cone-shaped head or extremity 24 adaptedto project between the free margins of the upper and the lining and todeflect the margin of the upper away from that of the lining. Asrepresented in Fig. 4, the cutter 20 has the appearance of a circularsaw, but its direction of rotation is such as to cause its inclinededges rather than its radial edges to operate with cutting effect, sincethe inclined edges are better adapted to operate with a shearing outwithout shredding the material to be severed and without feeding thework too rapidly or with too much force.

The cutter 20 is affixed to the lower end of an extension 25 of a shaft26, the extension 25 being bored and tapped to receive an attachingscrew 21 having a left-hand thread which, by reason of the direction ofrotation of the shaft 26, has a tendency to tighten the cutter when inoperation.

The extension 25 also carries a freely rotatable roll or sleeve 28supported thereon by the cutter 20. This roll is arranged in cooperativerelation to a grooved or knurled peripheral surface 29 on the spindle22, the latter being driven at a slow speed to feed the, work by itsengagement with the margin being severed, and the roll 28 serving topinch the margin sufliciently to insure a feeding effect of the spindle.

The shaft 26 is arranged to rotate about a vertical axis in a bearing 38provided by a head or frame 3|. Any preferred means may be provided todrive the shaft 26. As herein shown, the shaft is provided with a pulley32 to which rotation is transmitted from the driving pulley 33 of anelectric motor 34 by a belt 35 that runs over idle pulleys, one of whichis indicated at 36. With considerable latitude in regard to the relativediameters of the pulleys 32 and 33 the cutter 20 may be driven atvarious speeds from about 800 R. P. M. to about 2000 R. P. M.

The organization herein shown provides for driving the spindle 22 atslow speed with rotation derived from the shaft 26. For this purpose,the shaft is provided with a circular eccentric cam 40, each completerotation of which turns a ratchet wheel 4| a distance corresponding tothe length of one tooth of the ratchet. This ratchet-wheel is affixed toa countershaft 42 by which rotation is transmitted to the spindle 22 bypinions 43 and 44. The ratchet-wheel receives its motion from anoperating pawl 45 carried by a rocker 46 arranged to oscillate on theshaft 42 which serves as a fulcrum. The rocker also carries ananti-friction roll 41 that runs on the periphery of the eccentric 40 andis maintained in contact with the eccentric by'a leaf-spring 48 (Figs. 1and 3) arranged to act on the rocker 46 at the opposite of its fulcrum42. A stem 49 rigidly related to the pawl 45 is arranged to turn in abearing formed in the rocker 46 and is retained therein by a shortlength of spring wire 5|] that serves not only as a keeper but also as aspring to maintain the. pawl in contact with the ratchet-wheel. One endof this wire is inserted through a hole in the stem 49 and the other endis formed to engage and partially surround the counter-shaft 42.

The assemblage comprising the work-feeding spindle 22 and theabove-described parts for communicating rotation to it from theeccentric 40 also includes a two-part housing comprising cooperativebearing members 5| and 52 rigidly connected by screws 53. Thisassemblage is movable intact toward and from the shaft 26, to the endthat the margin of the lining may be readily inserted between thespindle 22 and the cutter 20 when the assemblage is retracted. For thispurpose, the bearing member 52 is arranged to slide in a horizontalbearing provided by a grooved cap 55 secured to the frame 3| by bolts56. A pin 51 affixed to the slide 52 projects laterally through andbeyond an opening 58 in the cap to form connection with a link 59. Theother end of this link is pivotally connected to one arm of a bellcranklever 66, the fulcrum of which is indicated at 6|. The other arm of thebell-crank lever carries an adjustable stop-screw 62 and is connected tothe upper end of a rod 63 that extends downwardly to a treadle (notshown) mounted at the base of a column 64 on which the head 3| ismounted. A compression spring 65 surrounding the rod 63 normallymaintains the work-feeding spindle 22 in its operative position shown inFigs. 1, 2 and 4, the lower end of the spring being seated upon astationary abutment 66. A boss 61 projects from the frame 3| into thepath of the stop-screw 62 to limit the extent of retraction of the slide52.

The machine is also provided with a trimming guide (Figs. 2 and 5)comprising a plate 19 of sheet metal to which a cylindrical shank orstem H is rigidly secured by a rivet 12. A holder '13 is provided with asocket in which the stem is arranged, and the socket portion thereof isdivided by a kerf 14 and provided with a clamping screw 15 by which itmay be contracted to grip the stem. Two holes 16 are bored through theholder 13 to receive screws 11 by which the holder is secured to theframe 3|. the plate 10 is bent to underlie the cutter 20 and itsattaching screw 21, and the extremity of this portion of the plate isbent down to form a lip 18 arranged to project between the lining andthe perimeter of an insole l2 as shown in Fig. 1. The lip 18 is thusarranged to guide a shoe by contact with the perimeter of the insolewhile the horizontal portion of the gage lies on the face of the insoleto maintain the shoe at a level slightly below the level of the cutter.

Assuming that the described machine is to be used to out off a strip ofall the lining materials at the toe end of a shoe in the conditionrepresented in Figs. 1 and 6, the operator will first depress thetreadle to retract the feeding spindle 22 from the cutter 29 and willthen present the shoe to the trimming gage in a position that willenable the conical head 24 of the spindle to enter between the inturnedmargin of the upper and the lining materials at the point indicated at aThe lower portion of in Fig. 6. At first the operator may support thetoe of the shoe in the right hand and the heel end in the left hand. Ifnecessary, the operator may first bend the margin of theupper away fromthe lining materials far enough to enable the point of the conicalhead24 to enter between the upper and the doubler, after which'the conicalhead will wedgethese elements apart and maintain a suitable spacebetweenthem. As the shoe is raised to the trimming gage the materials to besevered will be guided upwardly by the conical head 24 so thattheywilllie'between the feeding portion 29 of the spindle and the freelyrotatable sleeve of roll 28. When the operators foot is removed from thetreadle the spring 65 will return the feeding mechanism to its operativeposition where the spindle 22 and the roll 28 will grip the materials tobe severed. Meanwhile the cutter 20 will have begun to operate on theinterposed materials to sever them with a shearing cut.

At first, because the trimming must be begun inside the boundary ofthe-insole, the lip 18 of the trimming gage will bear on the face of theinsole, but sincethe trimming will immediately progress across theperimeter of the insole the shoe will be moved to a position that willenable the perimeter to lie in the angle formed by the lip 18 and thehorizontal portion of the gage, as shown in Fig. 1. As the trimmingprogresses beyond this stage the operator will swing the heel-end of theshoe toward him and to the right, the toe-end of the shoe being fedmeanwhile by the materials being severed, but when the heelend of theshoe projects to the right from the point of operation, and before theout has progressed to its terminal point indicated at b in Fig. 6, theoperator will rock the shoe on the shoulder 19 of the trimming gageandthereby depress the margin of the sole below the level of the lip 18.control of the lip 18 and the marginof the sole may pass under the lipto permit the cut to run out at or near the point 1).

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A trimming machine comprising two shearing members and power-drivenmeans for operating one of them to sever a marginal strip from an innerlayer of unlasted upper materials loosely enveloping the toe of theinsole of a partially fabricated shoe on a last, one of said shearingmembers being formed and arrangedto project between said inner layer anda confronting outer layer intersecting the shearing plane of saidmembers. 2. A trimming machine comprising two shearing members one ofwhich is formed and arranged to project between free margins of theupper and the lining loosely enveloping the toe of the insole of apartially fabricated shoe on a last, and the other of which is arrangedto cooperate therewith to sever a stripof the lining close to theinsole, power-driven means for operating one of said members, and atrimming guide arranged to project between the lining and the perimeterof the insole.

3. A trimming machine comprising a shearing member formed and arrangedto project between free margins of the lining and the upper looselyenveloping the toe of the insole of a partially fabricated shoe on alast, power-driven means for operating said member, shearing meansarranged to cooperate with said member to sever a strip The shoe is thusreleased from the said member to sever a marginal strip from said innerlayer in a plane intersecting said outer layer without cutting saidouter layer.

5. A trimming machine comprising a rotary driven spindle one end ofwhich is formed and arranged to project between free margins of theupper and the lining loosely enveloping the toe end of the insole of apartially fabricated shoe on a last, and a power-operated cutterarranged to cooperate with said spindle to sever a strip of the liningclose to the insole.

6. A trimming machine comprising a rotary driven spindle one end ofwhich is formed and arranged to project between free margins of theupper and the lining loosely enveloping the toe end of the insole of apartially fabricated shoe on a last, a power-operated cutter arranged tooperate against said spindle to sever a strip of the lining close to theinsole, and a freely rotatable roll arranged to cooperate with saidspindle to grip and feed the materials being severed.

7. A trimming machine comprising a rotary driven spindle one end ofwhich is formed and arranged to project between free margins of theupper and the lining loosely enveloping the toe end of the insole of apartially fabricated shoe on a last, said spindle having a peripheralgroove bounded by a shearing edge, and a rotary powerdriven disk cutterarranged to confront the insole and cooperate with said shearing edge tosever a strip of the lining with a shearing out close to the insole.

8. A trimming machine comprising a poweroperated cutter formed andarranged to operate against the inner face of a free margin of lining atone end of a partially fabricated shoe on a 1 last to sever a strip fromthe lining, and a member formed and arranged to project between saidmargin and the upper to brace the lining against said cutter at bothsides of the line of cut and to deflect the upper from the cutter, saidmember having an edge in shearing relation to said cutter.

9. A trimming machine comprising a rotary disk cutter formed andarranged to confront the insole of a partially fabricated shoe and severa strip" from a free margin of unlasted lining thereof, and a memberarranged to project between said marginand' the upper outside theperimeter of the insole to maintain the unlasted margin of the upperaway from the cutter and to brace said margin of the lining against thecutter.

10. A trimming machine comprising a rotary disk cutter formed andarranged to confront the insole of a partially fabricated shoe and severa strip from a free margin of unlasted lining thereof, and a rotarydriven member arranged to project between said margin and the upperoutside the perimeter of the insole to maintain the unlasted margin ofthe upper away from said cutter and to cooperate therewith to sever saidmargin of the lining.

11. A trimming machine comprising a rotary driven shaft, a cutter and acam both fixed to said shaft and a freely rotatable roll mountedthereon, a feed-roll arranged to cooperate with said freely rotatableroll to grip the work, a portion of said feed-roll being arranged tobrace the work againstsaid cutter, and means arranged to be operated bysaid cam to drive said feed-roll step by step.

12. A trimming machine comprising a rotary driven unit including acutter and a cam, a supporting member movable toward and from said unit,a feed-roll and a freely rotatable roll carried respectively by saidsupporting member and said driven unit to grip the work, and a ratchetand-pawl couple carried by said supporting member to drive saidfeed-roll, the pawl of said couple being arranged to be operated by saidcam.

13. A trimming machine comprising a rotary driven unit including acutter and a cam, a freely rotatableroll mounted on said unit in coaxialrelation thereto, a cooperative unit including a feed-roll, a toothedwheel for driving it, and a pawl mechanism for driving said wheel, saidfeed-roll and said freely rotatable roll being cooperatively related togrip the work, and said pawl mechanism being arranged to be operated bysaid cam, and manually operable means by which one of said units may beshifted relatively to the other to vary the space between said rolls.

14. A trimming machine comprising a rotary driven unit including ashearing cutter and a cam, a supporting member movable toward and fromsaid unit, a rotatable member carried by saidsupporting member andhaving a shearing edge arranged to cooperate with said cutter, and aratchet-and-pawl couple carried by said supporting member to drive saidrotatable member, the pawl of said couple being arranged to be operatedby said cam.

15. A trimming machine comprising a rotary driven shaft, a disk cuttersecured against one end thereof, a freely rotatable roll surroundingsaid shaft adjacent to said cutter, a rotary workfeeding spindlearranged to cooperate with said roll and having a shearing edge arrangedto cooperate with said cutter, movable means in which said spindle isjournaled and by which it may be shifted laterally toward and fromcooperative relationship with said roll and said cutter, and meansarranged to drive said spindle.

16. A trimming machine comprising a rotary driven shaft, 9. disk cuttersecured against one end thereof, a freely rotatable roll surroundingsaid shaft adjacent to said cutter, a rotary workfeeding spindlearranged to cooperate with said roll and having a shearing edge arrangedto cooperate with said cutter, a movable carrier by which said spindlemay be shifted laterally toward and from cooperative relationship withsaid roll and said cutter, an actuator carried by said shaft, andtransmission mechanism carried by said carrier and operable by saidactuator to drive said spindle at reduced speed.

1'7. A trimming machine comprising a rotary driven shaft, a disk cuttersecured against one end thereof, a freely rotatable roll surroundingsaid shaft adjacent to said cutter, a rotary workfeeding spindlearranged to cooperate with said roll and having a shearing edge arrangedto cooperate with said cutter, a movable carrier by which said spindlemay .be shifted toward and from cooperative relationship with said rolland said cutter, a cam carried by said shaft, and mechanism carriedbysaid carrier to drive said spindle intermittently with motion derivedfrom said cam.

18. A trimming machine comprising cooperative rolls arranged to grip afree margin of unlasted lining projecting from the toe of a partiallyfabricatedshoe, one of said rolls being formed and arranged to projectaxially between said margin and the corresponding unlasted margin of theupper to wedge them apart, means arranged to drive one of said rolls,and cutting means arranged to sever a strip from said margin of thelining.

19. A trimming machine comprising cooperative rolls arranged to grip afree margin of unlasted lining projecting from the toe of a partiallyfabricated shoe, one of said rolls having a tapering end formed andarranged to project between said margin and the corresponding unlastedmargin of the upper, means arranged to drive one of said rolls, andcutting means arranged to sever a strip from said margin of the lining.

20. A trimming machine comprising cooperative rolls arranged to grip afree margin of lining projecting from the toe of a partially fabricatedshoe, one of said rolls being formed and arranged to project axially,and having a peripheral groove arranged to lie between said margin andthe upper, means arranged to drive the roll having said groove, and acutter arranged to project into said groove to sever a strip from saidmargin.

21. A trimming machine comprising cooperative rolls arranged to grip afree margin of lining projecting from the toe of a partially fabricatedshoe, one of said rolls being formed and arranged to project, and havinga peripheral edge arranged to lie, between said margin and the upper,means arranged to drive the roll having said edge, and a cutter arrangedto cooperate with said edge to sever a strip from said margin with ashearing cut.

22. A trimming'machine comprising a rotary w,

spindle formed and arranged to project between the upper and a freemargin of lining at the toe of a partially fabricated shoe, a rotarydriven shaft, a cutter affixed to said shaft and arranged to cooperatewith said spindle to sever a strip from said margin of the lining, afreely rotatable roll mounted on said shaft and arranged to cooperatewith said spindle to grip said strip of the lining, and means by whichsaid spindle is driven with less speed than said shaft.

23. A trimming machine comprising cooperative rolls arranged to grip afree margin of lining loosely enveloping the toe of the insole of apartially fabricated shoe, one of said rolls being formed and arrangedto project between said margin and the upper and one of them beingbodily movable away from the other to facilitate inserting said marginbetween them, means arranged to drive one of said rolls, and cuttingmeans arranged to sever a strip from said margin.

24. A trimming machine comprising a trimming gage formed and arranged toengage the margin and the perimeter of the insole of a partiallyfabricated shoe having free margins of upper and lining, cutting meansarranged to sever a strip from said margin of the lining. and meansarranged to maintain the upper out of the range, and the lining in therange, of said cutting means.

25. A trimming machine comprising a trimming gage having a thin fiatportion formed and arranged to lie in face-to-face contact with themargin of the insole of a partially frabricated shoe, and having a lipprojecting from one edge of said portion to run between the perimeter ofthe insole and a free margin of lining loosely enveloping an end of theinsole, cutting means arranged to sever a strip from said marginadjacent to the junction of said flat portion and said lip, and meansarranged to project between said margin and the corresponding margin ofthe upper to maintain the latter out of the range of said cutting meansand to brace the margin of the lining against the cutting means.

26. A trimming machine comprising a trimming gage arranged to be engagedby the margin of the insole of a partially fabricated shoe havingunlasted marginal portions of inner and outer layers of upper materialsprojecting loosely beyond the insole, a cutter arranged to cut throughthe unlasted marginal portion of said inner layer from its inner surfaceto its outer surface, power-driven means for operating said cutter, anda member arranged toengage constantly the outer surface of said unlastedportion of the inner layer to brace said portion against said cutter andto fend the outer layer away from it.

27. A trimming machine comprising the combination of elements defined inclaim 26, and rotary driven means arranged to feed the work byengagement with the margin of said inner layer.

28. A trimming machine comprising a fixed trimming gage having a thinflat portion ar ranged to be engaged by the margin of the toeend of theinsole of a partially fabricated shoe having unlasted portions of innerand outer layers of upper materials loosely enveloping that end of theinsole, a pair of rotary cutting members cooperatively arranged to severa strip from said inner layer with a shearing cut close to said thinfiat portion, means arranged to deflect said outer layer from. theshearing locality, and power-driven means for operating said cuttingmembers.

29. A trimming machine comprising power-operated cutting means arrangedto sever progressively the unlasted lasting allowance of an inner layerof upper materials loosely enveloping the toe of a last, power-drivenmeans arranged to feed the Work, and means arranged to separate an outerlayer of said upper materials from said inner layer and thereaftermaintain said outer layer out of the range of said cutting means.

30. A trimming machine comprising poweroperated cutting means arrangedto sever progressively the unlasted lasting allowance of an inner layerof upper materials loosely enveloping the toe of a last, means arrangedto be engaged by the margin of an insole on the last to control thecourse of such severing, and means arranged to maintain an outer layerof said upper materials out of the range of said cutting means.

31. A trimming machine comprising poweroperated cutting meansarranged tosever progressively the unlasted lasting allowance of an inner layer ofupper materials loosely enveloping the toe of a last, and means arrangedto separate an outer layer of said upper materials from said inner layerand thereafter maintain said outer layer out of the range of saidcutting means.

JOHN T. LANCASTER.

